Abstract:This article argues for a mutation in how mental health is conceived in the early twenty-first century. In this mutation, physical environments, in the form of homes, workplaces, and streetscapes, are understood as central to the production and maintenance of good mental health. Much writing on this topic has taken place within a rhetorical division between stereotypically urban buildings or spaces (tower blocks, for example), which are said to be harmful to the human mind, and idealized rural or green spaces, such as parks or small hamlets, understood to be psychologically restorative. This discourse, which has its roots in both cultural and scientific developments, has rendered mental disorder as, at least in part, a spatial problem—which is to say, as a problem that might be both understood through but also treated by spatial practices. The goal of the article is to establish the ground of this claim and to make some of its epistemic roots visible. The article begins with an ethnographic account of a contemporary intellectual movement aimed at populating urban spaces with trees in the name of global mental health. Then the discussion turns to a series of critical developments in the psychological and neurobiological sciences—the article demonstrates how these, in turn, are efflorescing into new links between the architectural and psychological sciences. The article shows how this scientific discussion is paralleled by developments in urban planning—Ebenezer Howard's program of the early twentieth century, set out in Garden Cities of To-Morrow, is taken as exemplary here. The article ends with a reading of Clive Barker's 1985 short story "The Forbidden" and of the film Candyman, which it gave rise to, whose shared sense of horror at the visceral consequences of failed urban experiments, I argue, should be read as a critical inflection point for the contemporary relationship between psychology and architecture.


We recorded and described the calls and acoustic characteristics of the male tiger frog, Hoplobatrachus rugulosus, in an artificial pond during mating season. Spectral and temporal call parameters, along with call intensity were analyzed. Three harmonics were distinguishable from the spectrogram. Four patterns of dominant frequency were found in calls produced late at night, i.e, 3 patterns in the first harmonic (located in 500 Hz section, 700 Hz section, and 800 Hz section respectively) and 1 in the second harmonic (located in 1 800 Hz section). Call duration, call duty cycle, call intensity, and pulse rate were highly variable among different patterns of dominant frequency. These call properties could provide valuable evidence for further ecological study of this species.


The level of hygiene practices is generally low in Nigeria. There are no available data for measuring
hygiene practices; the best information is through proxy indicator of access to hand washing facilities
such as water, soap and basin. It is estimated that 43% of the population has access to hand washing
facilities. The poor level of hygiene practices among the people can be attributed to; low level of
awareness; low level of priority and funding of hygiene education and promotion; Weak and poorly
enforced public health laws; Poorly motivated sector professionals and weak human resources.
Addressing the poor level of hygiene practices requires mass mobilization of people towards creating
awareness for the desired behavioural change. In Nigeria, hand washing campaigns have been
instrumental to mobilizing people for improved hygiene practices and based on the successes recorded,
the campaigns have been adopted as a major strategy for effective hygiene promotion.


Sustainable Development Goal 16 is concerned with peaceful and inclusive societies, access to justice for all, and effective and accountable institutions. Yet, this is a distant reality for many internally displaced persons (IDPs), some of whom lack access to their most basic of democratic entitlements. IDPs' electoral participation is crucial for preventing marginalization, promoting reconciliation, and for making governments more responsive and accountable, including in respect to solutions for IDPs. Securing IDPs' electoral rights in their area of origin or in their current location is a key component of a durable IDP settlement solution. This article explores the international standards for IDP electoral participation, and the multiple operational challenges involved. It looks in detail at the case study of Ukraine, where despite extensive advocacy efforts, IDPs still do not have the right to vote either in local elections or for half of the members of parliament. The study examines the current legal, practical and political barriers to IDP electoral participation in Ukraine, and reviews how the persistence of the Soviet-era residence registration system is a major obstacle for inclusive elections. The study critically analyses arguments against granting IDPs full franchise in Ukraine and explains a draft law that addresses public concerns about the integrity of the IDP vote. If adopted, this draft law will remove some of the existing barriers to electoral participation faced by IDPs, as well as internal migrants and other transient citizens, all of whom are negatively affected by the current permission-based residence registration system in Ukraine.


A novel brushless compound-structure permanent-magnet synchronous machine (CS-PMSM) with six different topologies is proposed based on the magnetic field modulation principle. As the key part of the brushless CS-PMSM, the radial magnetic-field-modulated brushless double-rotor machine (MFM-BDRM) is investigated on the speed and torque relations of the first-stator magnetic field, the first-PM rotor and the modulating ring rotor by analytical method. Besides, on the basis of analyses of magnetic field distribution in the inner and outer air gap, the back electromagnetic force and torque performance of the radial MFM-BDRM are further studied by finite-element method (FEM). The results indicate that the low power factor is a major problem of the radial MFM-BDRM. Therefore, the influence of parameters, such as combinations of magnetic block number and PM pole pair number, the span ratio and radial thickness of magnetic blocks, and the length of air gap, on the power factor is analyzed. Additionally, to investigate the distribution law of core loss in the radial MFM-BDRM, amplitudes and frequencies of the magnetic fields in each part of the machine are analyzed. Furthermore, considering the weak mechanical strength of modulating ring rotor employing DW310 laminations, an attempt to use iron instead of DW310 in modulating ring rotor is investigated.


Instantaneous heart rate was recorded in five patients and analysed for change in rate using the criterion of percentage variation either side of the starting rate with resetting throughout the anaesthetic each time the permitted variation was exceeded. The number of occasions on which change occurred was counted, the patterns of change were analysed and the effect of two sampling methods (six-second sample and six-second average) on these patterns was compared. A large number of patients (131) was investigated using the six-second sampling method and the number of changes and patterns of change were evaluated. It is suggested that the six-second sampling technique, combined with the 10 or 15% variation, may be useful for the evaluation of vigilance, and has implications for the design of monitoring apparatus in the future.


The in vitro antihepadnavirus activities of the purine nucleoside analogs ganciclovir (9-[2-hydroxy-1-(hydroxymethyl)ethoxymethyl]guanine) and penciclovir [9-(4-hydroxy-3-hydroxymethylbut-1-yl)guanine; BRL 39123] were compared in primary duck hepatocyte cultures congenitally infected with the duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV). Both compounds inhibited DHBV DNA replication to a comparable extent during continuous short-term treatment of the cultures. However penciclovir was more active both during longer-term continuous treatment (50% inhibitory concentrations: penciclovir, 0.7 +/- 0.1 microM; ganciclovir, 4.0 +/- 0.2 microM) and in washout experiments (50% inhibitory concentrations: penciclovir, 3.0 +/- 0.4 microM; ganciclovir, 46 +/- 1.5 microM) designed to compare the persistence of inhibitory activity after removal of the extracellular compound. The effects on viral protein synthesis were similar to the effects on viral DNA replication. These data suggest that penciclovir or its oral form, famciclovir, may have clinical utility in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus infection.


The search of new effective antibacterial drugs against infectious agents also lately include inhibitors of some aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. In this regard, tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase from M. tuberculosis (MtTyrRS) is one of especially attractive target due to its key role in cell metabolism and significant differences between spatial structures of eubacterial and human TyrRSs. In this article the theoretic homology modeling of spatial structure of catalytic module of MtTyrRS (region Met1-Ser321) has been carried out based on experimentally determined structures of homologous TyrRSs from other eubacteria, and the comparison of the structures of their active sites was performed. Most of MtTyrRS catalytic site residues, particularly those, which form special hydrogen bonds with low-molecular-weight ligands (Tyr36, Asp80, Tyrl71, Asp178, Gly194 and Asp196) as well catalytic residues Lys231 and Lys234 from KFGK motif of interdomain loop and Arg87, are conservative in evolution.


MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNAs which are involved in the posttranscriptional modulation of gene expression. Their short (18-24) single stranded mature sequences are involved in targeting specific genes. It turns out that experimental methods are limited and that it is difficult, if not impossible, to establish all miRNAs and their targets experimentally. Therefore, many tools for the prediction of miRNA genes and miRNA targets have been proposed. Most of these tools are based on machine learning methods and within that area mostly two-class classification is employed. Unfortunately, truly negative data is impossible to attain and only approximations of negative data are currently available. Also, we recently showed that the available positive data is not flawless. Here we investigate the impact of class imbalance on the learner accuracy and find that there is a difference of up to 50% between the best and worst precision and recall values. In addition, we looked at increasing number of features and found a curve maximizing at 0.97 recall and 0.91 precision with quickly decaying performance after inclusion of more than 100 features.


An autopsy case of Behçet disease which was considered to be typical both clinically and histopathologically was reported. Cerebral abscess was also noted. Consequently it was presumed that some of the findings which had been called softening, demyelination, cavitation among others as the lesions of Neuro‐Behçet might be closely related to abscess. Besides suppurative endoaortitls which was thought to be of interest as the lesions of Vascular‐Behçet was observed. In order to substantiate the above, a general review of the literature of Behçet disease was made.


This paper presents estimates of the economic impact of recreational fisheries on the formal economy of Denmark. It utilises primary data from a CVM (con-tingent valuation method)-mail survey conducted in 1999 in Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Iceland. The sample used in this paper covers 546 Danish respondents (recreational fishermen only). The questions on expenditure were asked in order to jog the memory of the respondents prior to the CVM questions in the form of willingness to pay questions. The annual mean amount spent on recreational fishery was estimated to be 1.170 DKK in national currency and the aggregate Danish expenditure was estimated to be 517 million DKK. The expenditure estimates from the original survey distributed on expenditure cate-gories were used as the starting point of this study. The estimation of the economic impact was done from the demand side using the Danish input-output tables. In the model each known expenditure category from the survey was allocated to a similar commodity group posting in the in-put output model nomenclature. As a result, the impact of expenditure on rec-reational fisheries activities on employment, import, indirect taxes and income was calculated.


The 1988 Upstate New York Live Birth Certificate was the first to record Hispanic ethnicity and country of origin. This registry was used to compare low birthweight and preterm delivery among non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and Hispanic infants. Risk of low birthweight and preterm delivery was assessed for Hispanics by country of origin. Unconditional backward elimination logistic regression analysis, controlling for confounders was used to assess risk of low birthweight and preterm delivery of Hispanic subgroups compared to non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black mothers. The data showed that non-Hispanic black mothers are at greatest risk of low birthweight and preterm delivery. Hispanics as a group have rates similar to non-Hispanic white mothers, although risk of preterm delivery and low birthweight differs among Hispanic ethnic subgroups. This study supports the need to assess Hispanic subgroups separately rather than as a single entity.


The focus of this thesis is empathy in sex offenders with intellectual disabilities (ID).
The first section reviews components of empathy, based on Marshall et al.'s (1995)
model, in sex-offenders with ID. Due to the paucity of research into empathy in sexoffenders
with ID, the review establishes what can be learned from studies investigating
components of empathy in sex-offenders without disabilities and in people with ID.
Evidence is conflicting and no clear conclusions can be made as to whether sexoffenders
or people with ID are deficient in components of empathy. Further research is
needed into the components of empathy in sex-offenders with ID, motivating the
research carried out in section two.
The second section describes a study on components of empathy and victim empathy in
sex-offenders with ID. Twenty-one sex-offenders and twenty-one non-offenders with
ID were given measures of empathy. In addition the sex-offenders completed a measure
of empathy towards their own victim. There were no significant differences between
sex-offenders and non-offenders with ID on measures of general or victim empathy, nor
on components of empathy. There was no significant relationship between the sexoffenders'
scores on empathy towards their own victim and empathy towards nonspecific
victims of sexual assault. Sex-offenders who had received treatment performed
better on some measures of components of empathy than non-offenders. Limitations
and clinical implications are discussed. Further research is needed to understand
empathy in sex-offenders with ID.
The final section discusses reflections on the research process, including what was
learned and areas for future development.


Incorporating many Distributed Generators (DGs) technologies in power system networks has grown rapidly in recent years. Distributed generation (DG) plays a key role in reducing power loss and enhancing the voltage profile in radial distribution networks. However, inappropriate DGs site or size may cut network efficiency; moreover, injecting harmonics is one of the integration concerns of inverter-based DGs. Two-procedure based approach is introduced in this paper. The first procedure solves the DGs siting and sizing problem, as a multi-objective one by improving the voltage profile of the whole distribution network and also reducing its power loss. A weighted sum method is presented to create the Pareto optimal front in this procedure and get the compromised solution by applying a novel metaheuristic optimizer, named Crow Search Algorithm (CSA). A modification on CSA is also proposed and applied to improve its performance. The achieved solution for inverter-based DGs placement and size is checked in the second procedure to make sure the accepted voltage THD at all buses by implementing detailed simulation for the tested system using Matlab/Simulink. The proposed approach has been tested on IEEE 33-bus radial distribution system with photovoltaic DGs. To confirm the superiority of the modified CSA algorithm in terms of quality of solution, its achieved results are compared with the results offered by the original CSA algorithm and published results of some other nature-inspired algorithms.


Folklore has it that Sobel sequences favor a variably strict analysis of conditionals over its plainly strict alternative. While recent discussions for or against the lore have focussed on Sobel sequences involving counterfactuals, this paper draws attention to the fact that indicative Sobel sequences are just as felicitous as are their counterfactual cousins. The fact, or so I shall argue here, disrupts the folklore: given minimal assumptions about the semantics and pragmatics of indicative conditionals, a textbook variably strict analysis fails to predict that indicative Sobel sequences are felicitous. The correct lesson to draw from Sobel sequences is that their felicity challenges classical implementations of the variably strict and of the plainly strict analysis alike. In response to this challenge I develop a dynamic strict analysis of conditionals that handles indicative Sobel sequences with grace while preserving intuitive constraints on the semantics and pragmatics of their members. A discussion of how such an analysis may handle the challenge from reverse Sobel sequences is provided.

 BibTeX info


The cosmetic treatment strategies have been considerably popular over the last few decades among the population with respect to age, gender, and ethnicity. These procedures are easily accessible safer, minimally invasive, and more precise. Botox therapy is one of the most common non-surgical cosmetic treatment. Thus, the current study was accomplished to assess the knowledge of female students towards Botox therapy for beautification as well as for therapeutic purposes. The study was conducted form June 2018 to December 2018 in different medical colleges and universities of Karachi-Pakistan. Overall, three hundred and eighty-six female students participated in the study. Descriptive statistics were used to reveal the students' demographic information. Pearson's chi-squared test was carried out to estimate the relationship between independent variables and responses. The response rate was 77.2%. The mean age of study participants was 26.44±3.33 years. The findings of the present study revealed that 58.3% of the participants were aware of Botox therapy and found it effective in cosmetology. The unexpected side effects, high procedure costs, and lack of cosmetologists were thought to be the main reasons that limit people from using Botox in Karachi-Pakistan.

 Key words: Botox, cross sectional survey, knowledge, Karachi, Pakistan.


ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics, motivations, and expectations of humans who enroll their dogs, cats, and other pets into pet life-care centers. Pet life-care centers are groups or institutions that provide a permanent home for pets in the event of the owner's illness, inability to care for their pet, or death. The long-term pet care industry has grown in the quality and type of care available to pet owners and is a classic example of the human–animal bond in action. This bond is well-documented in the literature, with most research focusing on physical, emotional, and mental health benefits to the pet owner. Few studies have examined how the human–animal bond affects the animal, and little is known about the motives and expectations of owners who enroll their pet in a life-care center. We conducted a study using a mail questionnaire sent to 163 current clients of a pet life-care center in Texas, USA. Of 101 respondents, whose ages ranged from 30 to over 70, most were female, married, and college-educated. Respondents strongly endorsed a variety of reasons for enrolling their pet in the center, with quality of veterinary care and satisfaction of their pet's basic needs being the most highly rated. Coding of open-ended responses was consistent with these ratings and identified having no other options as another frequently endorsed reason. The open-ended responses also indicated that respondents expected that their pet would enjoy extensive social interaction, receive high-quality medical attention, and be treated like they were at home. Respondents who had previously visited the center were more willing to adopt a pet in the future than those who had not visited the center. With the dramatic growth of pet life-care centers in the United States and lack of existing literature, further studies in this area are advised.


Objectives Few studies have examined whether social characteristics of the residential environment are associated with blood pressure after controlling for individual sociodemographic characteristics. Even less is known about the processes by which these associations operate. Therefore, we examined whether distinct dimensions of the residential environment (socioeconomic position and urbanicity) were associated with systolic blood pressure. To better understand the processes involved in the associations between contextual factors and blood pressure, we assessed the extent to which these associations were mediated by body mass index and waist circumference. Methods We analysed data from the PRIME Study (7850, 50–60-year-old men surveyed in 1991–1993 in three French regions and recently geocoded on a local scale). We used multilevel regression models to estimate associations between contextual factors and blood pressure, and path analysis to investigate possible mediators of these associations. Results After adjustment for individual socioeconomic variables, systolic blood pressure increased independently with decreasing municipality population density and decreasing neighbourhood educational level. Path analysis indicated that approximately 37% of the association between neighbourhood education and blood pressure was statistically explained by the heavier weight and stronger central adiposity of people from deprived neighbourhoods. Approximately 19% of the association with population density was mediated by anthropometric factors. Conclusions These data suggest that the neighbourhood environment may influence blood pressure; only part of the associations between contextual factors and blood pressure may operate through body weight and body shape modification.


Malaysian construction industry is always involved in project complexities difficulties, need of achieving faster results and slower in the adoption of technology. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is an object base technology and a set of tools which consists process of generating, storing, managing, exchanging and sharing building information among construction project stakeholders which enhance the productivity of project requirements and output. Despite the fact that BIM was firstly developed with a focal point on the design world, it has become widely noticeable and increase good turn among contractors. The aim of this study is to discover Building Information Modeling (BIM) application in contractor scope of works. Literature review and survey was carried out to identify the barriers and issues of BIM, construction project processes that involved BIM implementation as well as its benefits and success strategies towards engagement of construction stakeholders in BIM application. The survey was carried out among G7 Contractors in Klang Valley, Selangor. With the results of 51 respondents who participate in the survey, findings from quantitative and qualitative questionnaire reveal that the barriers and issues of BIM are contractor's resist to change, lack of knowledge and BIM perceived costs. As for the issues of BIM four (4) general issues such as lack of interoperability, lack in standards for model integration and management, do not have technology in terms of hardware and software and lack of determination of ownership on BIM tools are identified. BIM implementation during construction stage can benefits in terms of coordination, collaboration, improves communication and sharing information among construction practitioners. Moreover, BIM can improve accuracy in term of cost and reduce waste of rework. In order to encourage the contractors in implementation of BIM in their practices, five (5) success strategies on BIM were identified. These strategies can increase the quality of Malaysian construction projects as well as improve image of the industry. Everyone efforts are counted in order for BIM to be widely used in Malaysian construction projects especially among contractors.


The Swiss tariff schedule is characterized by many disparities and distortions. Already in the Tokyo Round countries have recognized that in that case only a harmonizing formula for tariff reduction is effective. It prevents protectionists from escaping from tariff peak reduction and rewards countries that already have considerably reduced tariffs. The implementation of the Green Box, with direct payments as the central element of Swiss agricultural policy, is the basis for further liberalization of market access. Green Box measures are more efficient and transparent compared to trade distorting tariff rate quotas and tariffs. The Flexible Swiss Formula is a middle ground between the Uruguay and the Swiss Formula. Its progressive character reduces tariff peaks, tariff escalation and the binding overhang. The formula is transparent and fair and allows countries some flexibility for tariff reduction. Further, it provides a consistent framework to reduce tariff escalation and to mitigate the tariff rate quota problem. It would harmonize tariff schedules between countries and also ease distortions and disparities within each country's agricultural sector.


This article examines the exhibitions and sales of Yuanmingyuan (or "Summer Palace") loot taken from China in October 1860 by two soldiers in the Anglo-French armies – James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin (1811-1863) and Captain Jean-Louis de Negroni (b.1820). Both men displayed their collections before auctioning them – the former in the prestigious South Kensington Museum (now the VA the latter in a well known exhibitionary site, the Crystal Palace in Sydenham in 1865. Such displays and public exhibitions were used as a device for enhancing the value of collections destined for the art market. This paper focuses on the commercial and exhibitionary practices at play in the dispersal of Elgin's and Negroni's collections of Summer Palace loot. It examines how these objects became enmeshed in the interacting system of auction, dealer and exhibitionary sphere, emphasising the role of auction houses, the significance of British press coverage in confirming the quality and value of collections, and the inter-relationships with prominent sites of public display in 1860s and 1870s London.


The social networking website Facebook offers to its users a feature called "status updates" (or just "status"), which allows users to create microposts directed to all their contacts, or a subset thereof. Readers can respond to microposts, or in addition to that also click a "Like" button to show their appreciation for a certain micropost. Adding semantic meaning in the sense of unambiguous intended ideas to such microposts can, for example, be achieved via Natural Language Processing (NLP). Therefore, we have implemented a RESTful mash-up NLP API, which is based on a combination of several third party NLP APIs in order to retrieve more accurate results in the sense of emergence. In consequence, our API uses third party APIs opaquely in the background in order to deliver its output. In this paper, we describe how one can keep track of provenance, and credit back the contributions of each single API to the combined result of all APIs. In addition to that, we show how the existence of provenance metadata can help understand the way a combined result is formed, and optimize the result combination process. Therefore, we use the HTTP Vocabulary in RDF and the Provenance Vocabulary. The main contribution of our work is a description of how provenance metadata can be automatically added to the output of mash-up APIs like the one presented here.


We consider a special set of risky prospects in which the outcomes are either life or death (or, more generally, binary utilities). There are various alternatives to the utilitarian objective of minimizing the expected loss of lives in such prospects. We start off with the two-person case with independent risks and construct taxonomies of ex ante and ex post evaluations for such prospects. We examine the relationship between the ex ante and the ex post in this restrictive framework: There are more possibilities to respect ex ante and ex post objectives simultaneously than in the general framework, i.e. without the restriction to binary utilities (cf. Harsanyi's aggregation theorem). We extend our results to n persons and to dependent risks. We study optimal strategies for allocating risk reductions given different objectives. We place our results against the backdrop of various pro-poorly off (or prioritarian) value functions (Diamond 1967; Rabinowicz 2002; Fleurbaey 2010) for the evaluation of risky prospects.


Polymeric foams are known to be sensitive to strain rate under dynamic loads. Mechanical characterization of such materials would not thus be complete without capturing the effect of strain rate on their stress-strain behaviors. Consistent data on the dynamic behavior of foam is also necessary for designing energy-absorbing countermeasures based on foam such as for vehicle occupant safety protection. Strain rates of the order of 100-500 s−1 are quite common in such design applications; strain rates of this range cannot be obtained with an ordinary UTM (universal testing machine) and a special test set-up is usually needed. In the current study, a unique approach has been suggested according to which quasi-static tests at low strain rates and low velocity drop tests at medium strain rates are utilized to arrive at an empirical relation between initial peak stress and logarithm of strain rate for a rigid closed-cell PU foam. Using a stress-scaling methodology and the empirical relation mentioned, foam stress-strain curves are obtained for a number of strain rates spanning low (from 0.00033 s−1) to high strain rates (up to1000 s−1). This data on foam material behavior is expected to be particularly useful in numerical modelling of foam-based countermeasures for impact energy absorption applications.


Energy and protein metabolism are both altered in chronic kidney disease (CKD) from its early stages. Patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) use peritoneal solutions with glucose as osmotic agent, which exposes them to an increased glucose load (40-80 g/day) and during PD there is a net loss of proteins through the peritoneum (4-8 g/day). Insulin resistance may lead to a reduction of the anabolic effects of insulin, while its proliferative effects on adipose tissue are potentially enhanced. Insulin resistance is also an important factor in the development of hypertriglyceridemia in PD patients: it increases free fatty acid availability, which then stimulates the release of large triglyceride-rich VLDL. Moreover, inhibitors of lipolytic enzymes (apoC-III, inflammation, oxidative modification and carbamoylation of apolipoproteins) may reduce lipid clearance, contributing to the development of dyslipidemia. Inflammatory molecules also play an important role in regulating glucose metabolism, and the excessive activation of inflammatory pathways may represent a fundamental step in the development of insulin resistance, including an over-expression of cytokines. Frequently, protein intake is reduced in PD because of under-dialysis, glucose load, abdominal discomfort and abnormal hormones levels, leading to a complex "protein-energy malnutrition". Optimization of dialysis dose, correction of acidosis and anemia and nutritional counseling, together with "non-traditional" management strategies, such as the use of PD solutions without glucose, like icodextrin and amino acid based solutions, represent the best strategies to prevent and correct malnutrition in PD patients. The mainstay of therapy is a reduction of glucose-based PD solutions and a correct dietary prescription.


Numerous activities require low-overhead monitoring of software applications, for example, run-time verification, test coverage measurement, and data collection. To support monitoring, current approaches usually involve extensive instrumentation of the software to be monitored, causing significant performance penalties and also requiring some means to ensure that the monitoring code will not cause incorrect behavior in the monitored application. To tackle this problem, we have explored a hardware-supported framework for monitoring and observation of software-intensive systems. In our approach, we leverage multicore processor architectures to create a non-intrusive, predictable, finegrained, and highly flexible general purpose monitoring framework. We have developed a novel architecture that augments each core with programmable extraction logic to observe an application executing on the core as its program state changes. Based on this architecture, we present a novel and highly efficient algorithm for tracking MC/DC coverage.


A typical consumer digital camera uses a Color Filter Array (CFA) to sense only one color component per image pixel. The original three-color image is reconstructed by interpolating the missing color components. This interpolation process (known as demosaicing) corresponds to solving an under-determined system of linear equations. In this paper, we show that by replacing the traditional CFA with a random panchromatic CFA, recent results in the emerging field of Compressed Sensing (CS) can be used to solve the demosaicing problem in a novel way. Specifically, during the image reconstruction process, we exploit the fact that the multi-dimensional color of each pixel has a compressible representation in a (possibly overcomplete) color system. While adhering to the "single color per pixel sensing" constraint at the sensing stage, during the reconstruction process we utilize the inter-pixel correlation by exploiting the compressible representation of the overall image in some sparsifying bases. Depending on the CFA, sparsifying bases and the color system, we form an underdetermined system of linear equations and find the sparsest solution for the color image by utilizing a CS solver. We illustrate that, for natural images, the proposed Compressive Demosaicing (CD) framework visually outperforms leading demosaicing methods in a consistent manner; in many cases it achieves clear visible improvements in a significant way.


Black drum (Pogonias cromis) were cultured from 17 June 1974, until 15 May 1975, in 0.16 m3 cylindrical cages in the plant intake water and in heated effluent at stations 1, 2, and 3 located increasing distances from the inlet of the once-through 1053 ha cooling lake of an upper Galveston Bay electric generating station. All caged drum died at the intake station by 12 November, while survival during summer and fall (17 June-19 November, 155 days) was 97% or higher at all stations in the cooling lake. Survival during winter and spring was poor with complete mortality occurring by 11 January, 9 May and 15 May at stations 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Deaths were associated with periods of poor water quality due to heavy rainfall and resultant low salinities. Intake water was the most variable in salinity while changes were less extreme and not as sudden as the effluent moved through the lake resulting in greater survival of fish at more distance stations. During summer and fall greatest mean daily length and weight gains, recorded at station 3, were 0.60 mm/day and 0.98 g/day, respectively. Food conversion values ranged from 3.56 for drum in a cage at station 3 to 48.44 for a cage of drum at the intake. During winter and spring (20 November-15 May, 177 days) growth continued, but mean daily length and weight gains were very small (0.07 mm/day and 0.17 g/day—station 3). The length-weight relationship and standard length-total length conversion equations for drum cultured in cages are: log W = -9.861 + 2.868 (log SL) and TL = 3.426 + 1.236 (SL).


Micropipelines, self-timed event-driven pipelines, are an attractive way of structuring asynchronous systems that exhibit many of the advantages of general asynchronous systems, but enough structure to make the design of significant systems practical. As with any design method, testing is critical. We present a technique for testing self-timed micropipelines for stuck-at faults and for delay faults in the bundled data paths by modifying the latch and control elements to include a built-in scan path for testing. This scan path allows the processing logic in the micropipeline, as well as the control of the micropipeline, to be fully tested with only a small overhead an the latch and control circuits. The test method is very similar to scan testing in synchronous systems, but the micropipeline retains its self-timed behavior during normal operation.


Although prior research has highlighted the significance of representations for mathematical learning, there is still a lack of research on how students use multimodal external representations (MERs) to solve mathematical tasks in digital game-based learning (DGBL) environments. This exploratory study was to examine the salient patterns problem solvers demonstrated using MERs when they engaged in a single-player, three-dimensional architecture game that requires the acquisition and application of math knowledge and thinking in game-based context problem solving. We recorded and systematically coded the behaviors of using MERs demonstrated by 20 university students during 1.5 hours of gameplay. We conducted both cluster and sequential analyses with a total of 2654 encoded behaviors. The study indicated that the maneuverable visual-spatial representation was most frequently used in the selected architecture game. All of the participants performed a high level of representational transformations, including both treatment and conversion transformations. However, compared to the students in the second cluster who were mostly non-game players, students in the first cluster (composed of mainly experienced video game players) displayed a higher frequency of interacting with various MERs and a more cautious and optimized reflective problem-solving process.


Most predictors used in systematic trading are designed as functions of available data streams. The functional form of these signals involves tuning a number of parameters such as the trading frequency, sample sizes, entry and exit thresholds, stop losses, and so on to improve the performance of the predictor. It is well known that such tuning leads to overfitting, meaning that the constructed signal fits historical returns well but may poorly predict their future behavior. One of the central questions that has not been previously addressed is how much each fitting parameter contributes to the overall performance improvement. In this article, this question is addressed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The author concentrates on a simple, but very common in practice, fitting technique consisting of smoothing the signal using the weighted moving average. It is shown that the improvement of the Sharpe ratio mainly depends on the signal autocorrelation and its alpha decay parameter. The findings are confirmed by numerical simulations. This result sheds more light on the overfitting phenomenon in the context of investment strategy construction and reveals the sources of performance improvement in forecast design. TOPICS: Big data/machine learning, portfolio construction, simulations, statistical methods Key Findings • Fitting the parameters of return predictors on historical data unavoidably leads to statistical overfitting, which may result in partial or total failure of the signal in the out-of-sample period. • This article introduces a novel framework capable of precisely estimating the level of overfitting or performance gain arising from optimization over every parameter. • An illustration of the power of the new methodology is provided using the ubiquitous example of exponential moving average smoothing of the forecast.


Purpose: The research aims to review and assess the situation of the old adults as well as formal and informal elderly care in Poland at the time of Covid-19. Design/methodology/approach: It includes, inter alia, the relevant literature overview, short characteristics of the structure of care facilities for the elderly and the sources of their financing, changes related to the pandemic and their consequences, identification of the main socio-economic problems of caregivers, and the impact of the pandemic on the health, dignity, and well-being of older adults. The study uses secondary data from the national statistics, Eurostat, OECD as well as primary data from the survey addressed to the older persons and their formal and informal carers (including family members), that was conducted to examine economic, financial, social, and health condition both of caregivers and care receivers during the pandemic. Findings: The study is situated within the domain of the economics of care, health economics, behavioural economics, and social policy. It provides an important contribution to the understanding of the challenges faced both by the most vulnerable people who need support and providers of this support during the crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. Practical implications: Research shows that public long-term care for the elderly in Poland does not sufficiently meet the needs, while commercial facilities are too expensive long-term care solutions, which is why the care is mostly provided in-home by relatives. Moreover, during Covid-19, the burden on families with caring for older people increased compared with "normal" times.


ABSTRACT Research on participatory domestication of indigenous trees in West and Central Africa started in 1996 with the objectives of increasing incomes of rural communities and improving their livelihoods by cultivating indigenous trees and developing strategies for marketing the produce. Though the study was conducted in Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, the present paper only presents data from Cameroon. In Cameroon, the original pilot nurseries have subsequently developed and grown to become Rural Resource Centres providing training in a wide range of skills as well as being the focal points for the diffusion of innovations. Some 200 village nurseries are now active and have become on-farm enterprises producing planting material both for local use and for marketing. Over the years, rural communities have increasingly reported improvements in their livelihoods, diet, health, income generation which have transformed their lives and given them encouragement for a better future. Livelihood surveys conducted in 2008 involved 298 farmers from 15 communities. Interestingly, one of the impacts has been that some young people have chosen to stay in their villages rather than to seek off-farm employment in local towns. Since 2008, tree domestication in Cameroon has also been integrated in a wider rural development programme in the West and North-West Regions, based on the concepts of multifunctional agriculture. This integrated approach to meeting the needs of poor rural communities is further empowering smallholder farmers to develop superior cultivars of indigenous fruits and nut trees and to produce planting stock of leguminous trees and shrubs for soil fertility replenishment. It has also encouraged entrepreneurism in the processing of agricultural products as well as tree products, and stimulated the development of markets for agroforestry tree products. Currently, over 6000 farmers from around 300 communities are engaged in this integrated rural development programme. This has been achieved by enhancing the capacity of technicians from NGOs, extension services and community-based organizations in the skills needed for tree domestication, agroforestry and value-addition at the community level.


According to structural feature and seal requirement for large scale cutting tube machine, the non-standard rubber lip seal ring was self-designed. The nonlinear finite element contact analysis was utilized to model, calculate and optimize the structure of the lip seal ring, so as to improve the seal performance of the lip-shaped seal ring, and to determine the criterion for failure of seal performance of the lip seal ring, therefore to lay a foundation for the optimal design and performance research of the lip seal ring. According to the actual working pressure for the cutting tube machine, the stress and deformation for the lip seal ring were simulated. It has been testified by the practical use that the finite element analysis is correct. The method to optimal design of the seal structure with finite element analysis is feasible.


The past, present, and future contributions of science in the St Elias Mountains, and its relationship with regional development, resource management, and traditional ecological knowledge is examined. Science has evolved from an early foundation of exploration, through stages of resource inventories and surveys, to deductive scientific research and, more recently, a promising reconnection with traditional knowledge. Directly and indirectly, events such as the Klondike Gold Rush, construction of the Alaska Highway, creation of the Arctic Institute of North America's Kluane Lake Research Station, and establishment of protected areas have helped foster scientific activities in the region. In turn, this scientific perspective has influenced regional development by providing detailed information that has been utilized, to varying degrees, in resource use, planning, and decisionmaking. Over the past decade, management of the region has become less sectoral and more cooperative in nature, due partly to the implementation of co-management agreements, regional land use planning, and settlement of first nations' land claims. Incorporating both science and traditional knowledge into this process through collaborative endeavours such as long-term ecological monitoring, adaptive management, and information integration will contribute to ecosystem-based management of the St Elias and ensure that both perspectives play an integral role in sustainable development of the region.


Bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (BVLR) with one-way endobronchial valves are employed to reduce hyperinflation to improve symptoms and lung function. The clinical benefits of Zephyr (PulmonX) valves in achieving target lobe volume reduction are most marked in those without collateral ventilation (CV) between ipsilateral non-target and target lobes. The presence of CV can be assessed by visual assessment of fissure integrity on CT scan and by measurement of flow and resistance following balloon catheter occlusion of the target lobe bronchus (Chartis; PulmonX). We have compared these two techniques for assessing collateral ventilation in patients with severe emphysema referred for EBV treatment. Two respiratory radiologists reviewed the CT images in 19 consecutive patients. Fissure integrity was classified as complete, incomplete minor defect, incomplete major defect. Chartis assessment for CV status was performed on potential target lobes in the same patients, and results compared for the two methods. There was 57.9% (11/19), 63.2% (12/19) and 78.9% (15/19) agreement between radiologists on fissure analysis of the right horizontal (RH), right oblique (RO) and left oblique (LO) fissures (Table 1). In 11 patients with no collateral ventilation on Chartis evaluation to the target lobe; Radiologist 1 reported 9 complete and 2 with incomplete minor defects compared to Radiologist 2; 10 complete and one with incomplete major defect. In 8 found to be CV positive by Chartis, radiologist 1; 3 complete, 3 incomplete major and 2 incomplete minor defects, and radiologist 2; 4 complete, 2 incomplete major and 2 incomplete minor defects. In conclusion, there was inter-observer difference in reporting fissure integrity particularly for right sided fissures, with better agreement for left oblique fissure. However, when experienced chest radiologists scored fissures as complete, there was a high correlation with CV negative status by Chartis. If radiologists scored fissures as incomplete major only one case was found to be CV negative whilst 2 CV negative cases were incomplete minor. This data indicates that visual assessment of fissure integrity by experienced respiratory radiologists can be used as a screening tool to determine appropriateness for subsequent Chartis EBV assessment. Abstract S121 Figure 1.


Nonlinear finite element method and Serendipity eight nodes element are used for determining of ground surface settlement due to tunneling. Linear element with elastic behavior is used for modeling of lining. Modified Generalized plasticity model with nonassociated flow rule is applied for analysis of a tunnel in Sao Paulo – Brazil. The tunnel had analyzed by Lades' model with 16 parameters. In this work modified Generalized Plasticity is used with 10 parameters, also Mohr-Coulomb model is used to analysis the tunnel. The results show good agreement with observed results of field data by modified Generalized Plasticity model than other models. The obtained result by Mohr-Coulomb model shows less settlement than other model due to excavation. Keywords—Non-associated flow rule, Generalized plasticity, tunnel excavation, Excavation method.


The patterns of mangrove distribution in tropical northwestern Australia are related to coastal dynamics, habitats and salinity. They also respond to the sedimentology of the tidal flats that back them, to coastal (sheet) erosion, and to the effects of some industrial impacts. These patterns provide information useful in predicting the variable effects of sea-level rise on mangroves. For instance, fundamental changes to soil regimes and salinity can be expected as tidal flat surfaces and groundwaters sedimentologically and hydrologically adjust to new levels of wave base and frequency of inundation as sea-level rises. Since mangrove assemblages and their zones are closely related to shore profile, soils, habitat stratigraphy and salinity fields, any change in these can lead to alteration of the structure and composition of mangrove systems. The mangrove response to a rising sea level will depend on the environmental setting of the mangrove system. This includes the relative geomorphic and sedimentologic homogeneity of the coast, its tidal range, its stability, and the history of Holocene sea levels in regard to development of coastal gradients and the climatic setting which determines the variety of species that will respond to this Holocene sea level rise and the type of reproduction the mangroves will utilise to keep pace with encroaching seas. A dichotomous key is presented which suggests that the response of mangrove coasts to a rising sea level will be quite varied from coastal sector to sector and even from site to site within 8 single coastal sector and climate setting. Some case studies illustrate the probable effect of rising sea level on mangrove systems in Western Australia. The macrotidal shores of King Sound, a relatively simple coast in terms of habitat and stratigraphy, is eroding naturally by creek and cliff erosion and by sheet erosion progressing at 1-3 cm/yr. This erosion specifically simulates the effects of a rising sea. With coastal retreat, the mangroves are migrating landwards, generally keeping pace with the- retreat. Mangroves colonise by seedling recruitment on the new substrates that become available through the processes of erosion, inundation, and dilution of hypersaline groundwater of the salt flats. As erosion and progressive dilution of hypersalinity proceeds, each zone within the mangrove belt displaces the adjoining one. Thus, sea-level rise in a system like King Sound would most likely result in the migration of mangroves, with similar composition and structure, into habitats made available by increased inundation. In arid zones, however, where mangrove population is maintained by vegetative reproduction, sheet erosion of tidal flats also causes landward migration of zones, but the individual zones keeps pace with a relative rising sea level by vegetative processes. Elsewhere in NW Australia, various mangroves assemblages with different composition, structure and population maintenance have developed along highly indented (ria) shores, in 8 heterogeneous suite of habitats that have evolved over the late Holocene. These habitats are defined by their geomorphic setting, sedimentologic processes, stratigraphic evolution, and ground water dynamics, and each is related to a specific height in relationship to sea level. A sea-level rise would inundate the various geomorphic/habitat systems, dislocating their suite in relation to the formative sea level. It is likely that these mangroves would not adjust as rapidly as the more homogeneous systems, and hence be disrupted.


Abstract Characterization of long-term activity-dependent plasticity from behaviorally driven spiking activity is important for understanding the underlying mechanisms of learning and memory. In this letter, we present a computational framework for quantifying spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) during behavior by identifying a functional plasticity rule solely from spiking activity. First, we formulate a flexible point-process spiking neuron model structure with STDP, which includes functions that characterize the stationary and plastic properties of the neuron. The STDP model includes a novel function for prolonged plasticity induction, as well as a more typical function for synaptic weight change based on the relative timing of input-output spike pairs. Consideration for system stability is incorporated with weight-dependent synaptic modification. Next, we formalize an estimation technique using a generalized multilinear model (GMLM) structure with basis function expansion. The weight-dependent synaptic modification adds a nonlinearity to the model, which is addressed with an iterative unconstrained optimization approach. Finally, we demonstrate successful model estimation on simulated spiking data and show that all model functions can be estimated accurately with this method across a variety of simulation parameters, such as number of inputs, output firing rate, input firing type, and simulation time. Since this approach requires only naturally generated spikes, it can be readily applied to behaving animal studies to characterize the underlying mechanisms of learning and memory.


Abstract Objectives: To assess heat related mortalities in relation to climate within Europe. Design: Observational population study. Setting: North Finland, south Finland, Baden-Württemberg, Netherlands, London, north Italy, and Athens. Subjects: People aged 65-74. Main outcome measures: Mortalities at temperatures above, below, and within each region's temperature band of minimum mortality. Results: Mortality was lowest at 14.3-17.3°C in north Finland but at 22.7-25.7°C in Athens. Overall the 3°C minimum mortality temperature bands were significantly higher in regions with higher than lower mean summer temperatures (P=0.027). This was not due to regional differences in wind speeds, humidity, or rain. As a result, regions with hot summers did not have significantly higher annual heat related mortality per million population than cold regions at temperatures above these bands. Mean annual heat related mortalities were 304 (95% confidence interval 126 to 482) in North Finland, 445 (59 to 831) in Athens, and 40 (13 to 68) in London. Cold related mortalities were 2457 (1130 to 3786), 2533 (965 to 4101), and 3129 (2319 to 3939) respectively. Conclusions: Populations in Europe have adjusted successfully to mean summer temperatures ranging from 13.5°C to 24.1°C, and can be expected to adjust to global warming predicted for the next half century with little sustained increase in heat related mortality. Active measures to accelerate adjustment to hot weather could minimise temporary rises in heat related mortality, and measures to maintain protection against cold in winter could permit substantial reductions in overall mortality as temperatures rise.


A method called ARIES-RRH (algorithm for recovery and isolation exploiting semantics with restricted repeating of history) is presented which is a modified version of the ARIES transaction recovery and concurrency control method implemented to varying degrees in Starburst, QuickSilver, the OS/2 Extended Edition Database Manager, DB2 V2, Workstation Data Save Facility/VM and the Gamma database machine. The repeating history paradigm of ARIES is analyzed to propose a more efficient handling of redos, especially when the smallest granularity of locking is not less than a page, by combining the paradigm of selective redo from DB2 V1. Even with fine-granularity locking, it is not always the case that all the unapplied but logged changes needed to be redone. ARIES-RRH, which incorporates these changes, still retains all the good properties of ARIES-avoiding undo of undos, single-pass media recovery, nested top actions, etc. The fundamentals behind why DB2 V1's selective redo works, in spite of failures during restart recovery, are also explained.<<ETX>>


Alloying elements added to steel for improving surface properties such as corrosion resistance are often enriched to the surface of the alloys during annealing at high temperatures. Their behavior depends on difference in their chemical characters and the condition of annealing. In this study, nondestructive depth-resolved analysis of amount distribution and chemical state of alloying element by using X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) technique in combination with X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) in order to characterize the enrichment and oxidation of manganese on the surface layers of an Fe-Mn alloy annealed under low oxygen partial pressure. The experiments were carried out using a two-dimensional detector with geometrical arrangement of grazing exit in detection of fluorescence X-ray emitted from sample surface. The results showed that manganese was enriched to surface layers of the Fe-Mn alloys during annealing at high temperatures and formed as manganese oxide. The preferential oxidation of manganese by annealing under low oxygen partial pressure is considered the driving force for their enrichment on the alloy surface.


The present paper is basically a theoretical analysis of the shamanic cure, which proposes communication as the basis of the healing process. This process is described as a communicative act focusing on the interpretation of symbolic elements. The context is the social dimension in which the process is inscribed, the linguistic mode employed, and the type of relationship established between the shaman, the patient and the people. We also recount the way in which a shared symbolic reality is built, and how the shaman's world view has important effects on people. The interpretative framework is the psychosocial focus and an explanation is offered in terms of the establishment of a communicative act as a scenario in which the symbolic reality is constructed, and in itself constitutes the cure into which the patient enters every session. The magical vision of shamanism is analyzed and its influence on the health-illness process.


Mercosur celebrates its 30 years amid criticism and debate. As with any multi-dimensional regional process, the assessment of its success or failure depends on the lens we choose to "capture the moment": the neoliberal lens or the developmental lens. Nowadays, the first one gains leverage in settling the short-term agenda as the States focus regional discussion on common external tariff and the "flexibilisation" of the external trade negotiations agenda. Beyond these topics, what challenges does the Covid-19 age -and the period after- present to keep Mercosur still relevant? This piece argues that four challenges should be addressed: 1) institutional issues –mainly normative effectiveness 2) regional economic recovery and how external actors play their roles –China, for instance 3) "green swans" in the regional agenda -climate change and global health 4) building a real "unity project" beyond members' political divergences.


Tomographic SAR inversion, including SAR tomography and differential SAR tomography, is essentially a spectral analysis problem. The resolution in the elevation direction depends on the elevation aperture size, i.e. on the spread of orbit tracks. Since the orbits of modern meter-resolution space-borne SAR systems, such as TerraSAR-X, are tightly controlled, the tomographic elevation resolution is at least an order of magnitude lower than in range and azimuth. Hence, super-resolution reconstruction algorithms are desired. Considering the sparsity of the signal in elevation, a compressive sensing based super-resolving algorithm, named "Scale-down by L1 normMinimization, Model selection, and Estimation Reconstruction" (SL1MMER, pronounced "slimmer") was proposed by the authors in a previous paper. The ultimate bounds of the technique on localization accuracy and super-resolution power were investigated. In this paper, the essential role of super-resolution for layover separation in urban infrastructure monitoring is pointed out. It is shown that double scatterers with small elevation distances are more frequent than those with large elevation distances. Furthermore,the super-resolution capability of SL1MMER is demonstrated using TerraSAR-X real data examples. For a high rise building complex, the percentage of detected double scatterers is almost doubled compared to classical linear estimators. Among them, half of the detected double scatterer pairs have elevation distances smaller than the Rayleigh elevation resolution. This confirms the importance of super-resolution for this type of applications.


This study was conducted in the Mana-Soda salt crater area in Borana, southern Ethiopia to evaluate the effects of a mineral lick-centered distance gradient on herbaceous species composition and rangeland condition. Samples of herbaceous species were collected along a 12 km transect starting from the edge of the crater. The herbaceous species were clustered into communities and the indicator species of each community were identified. Biomass yields were estimated across the transect and the overall rangeland condition was rated using the ecological index and weighted palatability composition (WPC) methods. A total of 16 grasses, two forbs and sedges were identified. Chrysopogon aucheri was the most abundant grass species, while Aristida adoensis, Themeda triandra and Digitaria naghellensis were among the rarely occurring grass species. Forbs and sedges were also of rare occurrence. Decreaser species increased in abundance as distance from the crater increased. Herbaceous dry matter yield ranged from 408.3 to 2180 kg ha-1 along the 12 km transect. The biomass produced varied with time of year but generally increased with increasing distance from the salt crater. The ecological index values were 574 and 349 for the main and short rain seasons, respectively. The corresponding WPC values were 44.7 and 5%, respectively. The rangeland was therefore classified as poor to fair. The results showed a high proportion of increaser species leading to the poor to fair rangeland condition.

 Key words: Grass yield, indicator species, patch resource, rangeland condition.


E-Learning remains a new frontier for many faculty. When compared to the traditional classroom, E-learning requires greater collaboration among team members and use of different teaching and learning strategies. Pedagogy as well as team configurations must change when moving to the online environment. Collaboration is a key component in creating quality E-learning. Effective collaboration requires faculty to understand various roles (e.g., instructional designers, multimedia specialists), and activities involved in e-learning as well as how professionals in different roles work together. This article discusses the use of an E-Learning framework and development of a survey based on the framework's dimensions as two strategies to broaden faculty understanding of E-Learning collaboration. The survey was used to expose faculty across five Midwestern campuses to all dimensions of E-learning including areas such as management, ethics, and interface design.


The present geometry of the diapirs in the NE Maghreb (Tebessa region in eastern Algeria and the diapir zone in Tunisia) results partly from the initial shape of the primary structures, and partly from the deformations resulting from Alpine compressions. Their size depends on the location of these primary structures within the Maghrebian orogen. In the simplest cases, classical salt dome bodies--emplaced in one or several phases during the Cretaceous and/or Eocene--can be reconstructed when the present structures are unfolded. The individual geometries of the present diapirs are related to the local or regional structural environment. The wide extension of some of these diapiric structures is consistent with this polyphase structural evolution.


To examine the alterations of intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i)-handling mechanisms in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) of rat aorta (Shin et al Circ Res 1991;69:551-556), we stimulated VSMCs by extracellular high K+, caffeine, and angiotensin II and evaluated Ca2+ influx through voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels, Ca(2+)-induced Ca2+ release, and inositol trisphosphate-dependent Ca2+ release from internal stores. Percentage of VSMCs responding to each stimulant (responder ratio) and degree of [Ca2+]i increase in the responding cells were analyzed by a two-dimensional fura-2 imaging system. The responder ratios to the three stimulants were high (70-90%) in the quiescent phase (days 1-2), although some cells selectively responded to one or two of the stimulants. Responder ratios prominently decreased to approximately 20% in the proliferating phase (days 2.5-3). In the subconfluent (days 3.5-4) and postconfluent (days 5-6) phases, the responder ratio to high K+ and angiotensin II recovered to the same level as during the quiescent phase, whereas that to caffeine remained low (approximately 10-20%). In responding cells, the degree of [Ca2+]i increase by caffeine and angiotensin II was stable (approximately 100%) during culturing, whereas that to high K+ was small (approximately 30-40%) in the quiescent and proliferating phases and rapidly increased threefold in the subconfluent and postconfluent phases. Furthermore, arrest of cell growth in serum-free medium prevented the reduction of responder ratios in the proliferating phase and restored the decreased ratio of the caffeine responder. Acceleration of VSMC proliferation by platelet-derived growth factor decreased the ratios in all phases. These results imply that 1) the functional expressions of [Ca2+]i-handling mechanisms in response to these vasoactive stimuli are influenced by cell growth and cytodifferentiation of VSMCs or platelet-derived growth factor and 2) they are regulated independently from each other.


In the last decade, there have been significant changes in the economic focus in Dominica, particularly with respect to changes in trade access for key agricultural commodities. This study examined opportunities for exporting yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) from Dominica. The fisheries sector is identified as an under-exploited resource of Dominica, having significant capacity for foreign exchange earnings, evidenced by an increasing trend in yellowfin tuna harvest, and attractive prices on both domestic and international markets for this product. The study assessed the historical and current trade in yellowfin tuna and reviewed the prospects of the market for high-valued agricultural products. Finally, this study reviewed Dominica's ability to meet existing and proposed marketing and trade requirements, as well as the institutional and other factors that are in place, and those needed to provide continued support to increasing trade of this commodity.


Planning with numeric state variables has been a challenge for many years, and was a part of the 3rd International Planning Competition (IPC-3). Currently one of the most popular and successful algorithmic techniques in STRIPS planning is to guide search by a heuristic function, where the heuristic is based on relaxing the planning task by ignoring the delete lists of the available actions. We present a natural extension of \ignoring delete lists" to numeric state variables, preserving the relevant theoretical properties of the STRIPS relaxation under the condition that the numeric task at hand is \monotonic". We then identify a subset of the numeric IPC-3 competition language, \linear tasks", where monotonicity can be achieved by pre-processing. Based on that, we extend the algorithms used in the heuristic planning system FF to linear tasks. The resulting system Metric-FF is, according to the IPC-3 results which we discuss, one of the two currently most eecient numeric planners.


Sputum from patients with cystic fibrosis, bronchiectasis, and chronic bronchitis contains neutrophils and neutrophil proteases, which have been implicated in the pathophysiology of mucus hypersecretion in airways. We asked whether interleukin-8 (IL-8), a potent neutrophil chemoattractant, might be involved in recruiting neutrophils into airways of patients with cystic fibrosis, bronchiectasis, and chronic bronchitis. We found significant neutrophil chemotactic activity in sputum obtained from these patients. The IL-8 concentrations that we measured in sputum of patients with cystic fibrosis (7.1 +/- 1.0 x 10(-9) M, mean +/- SE), bronchiectasis (9.6 +/- 2.9 x 10(-9) M), and chronic bronchitis (2.8 +/- 1.0 x 10(-9) M) have been reported to cause significant chemotaxis in vitro and in airways in vivo, whereas concentrations measured in induced sputum from healthy subjects (1.1 +/- 0.3 x 10(-10) M) do not. A monoclonal antibody to IL-8 significantly inhibited the chemotactic activity in patients' sputum by 75-98%, but not in induced sputum from healthy subjects (9%). We conclude that IL-8 is an important chemotactic factor in sputum of patients with cystic fibrosis, bronchiectasis, and chronic bronchitis, and we suggest that IL-8 accounts, at least in part, for neutrophil recruitment into airways of patients with these diseases.


AIM
To determine whether treatment with the stem cell stimulator Olimpiq® Stem×Cell prevents increase of retinal and renal vascular permeability in alloxan-induced diabetic rats.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Two groups of Wistar rats were made diabetic by single intraperitoneal injection of Alloxan. The third, the control group, received vehicle alone. One diabetic group received Olimpiq® Stem×Cell treatment for 4 weeks. The permeability of the blood-retinal barrier (BRB) and renal vessels were measured by the extravasation of fluorescein-labeled bovine serum albumin.

RESULTS
Six weeks subsequently to Alloxan injection, significantly elevated the tissue fluorescence, the renal vascular leakage and BRB breakdown was demonstrated in the diabetic group, compared to the nondiabetic group. Olimpiq® Stem×Cell treatment significantly reduced the BRB breakdown, tissue fluorescence, and vascular leakage.

CONCLUSION
Olimpiq® Stem×Cell would be a useful choice of treatment for complications associated with increased vascular permeability of diabetes, such as retinopathy or nephropathy.


The nanocomposites of poly(vinyl acetate)/montmorillonite (PVAc/MMT) were prepared using vinyl acetate and organically modified alkaline calcium base montmorillonite (MMT) by in situ emulsion copolymerization. The organic modification was acrylic acid including terminal reactive vinylic group. The samples were characterized using fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD). Thermal properties of the PVAc/MMT films were studied by thermogravimetric (TG) and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC). The FT-IR results indicated that the vinyl group on the surface of the vinyl MMT nanoparticles had been successfully copolymerized with vinyl acetate. The XRD results demonstrated that the MMT was exfoliated during polymerization. The exfoliated PVAc/MMT nanocomposites showed a lower glass transition temperature (Tg) and a worse thermal stability compared with the pure PVAc. However, bonding power of the nanocomposite latex of PVAc/MMT was improved due to the strong interaction between silica nanoparticles and polymer matrix via covalent bonds.


This study develops a self recruitingsubletting cost indifference point model to explain the fragmentation in the structure of the construction industry. Although a high proportion of small firms in the construction industry has be criticized as it prevents the exploitation of economies of scale, the self recruiting-subletting cost indifference point model theoretically proposes that subletting is usually profitable for construction firms; thus the size distribution of the construction industry should skewed towards small firms.


With the current federal farm bill expired as of the end of September this year, many proposals have been made to redesign the next bill. The objective of this study is to compare the current policy with major proposed alternatives by estimating the potential payments for 17 example farms in Minnesota under each of the alternatives. The alternative proposals analyzed are the two alternatives in the recently passed House proposal (HR 2419), Durbin-Brown revenue-based support proposal (S 1872), USDA's proposed policy, NCGA's proposal of commodity based revenue-based support, ASA's proposal to adjust loan rates and target prices, multi-commodity revenue insurance, and NFU's cost-based safety net. These policies are compared in two ways. First, an historical comparison of crop revenue and estimated government payments for individual farms are made under each proposal from 2002-2005. Second, projections of crop revenue and government payments are made using historical yields for each farm, county, and nation; historical price data; and statistical distributions of the yields and prices. Using FAPRI-2 projections (which are closer to the prices expected in the next few years when a new farm bill will be in force), expected TGPs are similar for the most likely alternatives. TGPs for the two House proposals (HB-CCP and HB-RCCP) are consistently a little higher than the current policy. TGPs with the D-B proposal are slightly higher for some farms and slightly lower for others—ranging from 94% to 105% of the current policy. Non-DP payments are projected to be much higher for HB-CCP and HB-RCCP compared to current policy. The non-DP payments are slightly lower on average for the D-B proposal, but there was a wide dispersion across farms. Each of the proposals reduces risk by similar levels as measured by the variability of a farm's market revenue plus government payments compared to the expected total of market revenue. Since expected payments and risk reductions are similar between the most likely options, the choice between these alternatives depends more on the method used to determine payments and less on what the final amount is. Current policy and HB-CCP use a price based system to calculate payments with target prices set in policy and HB-RCCP sets the target revenue in policy while D-B used a market-oriented system to set the target revenue in each year. So, if the goal is to provide a safety net that moves with market conditions in a volatile world, the D-B proposal would be the best choice based on its market orientation.


The aim of this research is to design and fabricate the machine for production of bio-oil from agricultural residues in northeast of Thailand. Experiment: to produce the bio-oil from corn-stalk, husk and sawdust with 200 g/hr of capacity, 500°C of reactor temperature, -10°C of condensing unit temperature and testing of the mechanics and chemical property. The results showed that the yield of bio-oil from corn-stalk husk and sawdust are 17.40 18.40 and 22.40, respectively. According to the physical characterisation of the products, it was found that the bio-oil produced in this work showed similar properties to the bio-oil from commercial production. The results found in this research are useful for the development of a larger-scale bio-oil production unit, which is an on-going project at the Faculty of Engineering, Maha Sarakham University.


Dynamical Systems for Creative Technology gives a concise description of the physical properties of electrical, mechanical and hydraulic systems. Emphasis is placed on modelling the dynamical properties of these systems. By using a system's approach it is shown that a limited number of mathematical formulas suffices to describe the basic properties of all of these systems. Mathematical functions such as integration and differentiation are introduced and directly related to real world phenomena, ranging from pure technical systems, to motions of flowers or social systems. More abstract descriptions help to systematically analyse these systems and support the modelling process.
The first chapters deal with describing basic systems in the hydraulic, electrical and mechanical domain. Mathematical and simulation tools are introduced and used to analyse such systems. Next, it is shown that all these systems share the same basic properties, which allows the use of analogon models. A more abstract domain-independent description helps to better understand the dynamic behaviour and allows for modifications of the system in the domain that is most easily accessible.
The last chapters deal with the role of feedback in dynamical systems. Examples are shown by applying these concepts to electronic simulation models with operational amplifiers. Feedback control systems are briefly introduced as a means to change the dynamical properties of a system.
In the text and exercises extensive use is made of the modelling and simulation programme 20-sim. This programme supports all the models used in this book, especially icon-based physical models. The exercises stimulate exploration of the programme and experimenting with the models. The exercises are intended to raise questions rather than being classroom problems with a straightforward solution.


A series of barium modified zirconia nanoparticles were synthesized and evaluated for their catalytic activity for base catalyzed synthesis of â-nitro alcohol. The barium modified zirconia particles were synthesized by surface exchange reaction of zirconia with barium salt precursor. In order to study the effect of functionality and particle size of the zirconia particles on barium retention, zirconia samples were synthesized using five different methods namely combustion, amorphous citrate, precipitation, urea hydrolysis and evapouration induced self-assembly method. The zirconia samples contain both monoclinic and tetragonal phases. The relative content of the two phases depends strongly on the preparative procedure used. Highest tetragonal percentage was observed for the zirconia materials synthesized using amorphous citrate precursor route. The crystallite size of the synthesized zirconia was calculated using Fourier analysis of the broadened XRD profile of the zirconia samples. The urea hydrolysis method and the amorphous citrate methods are particularly effective for preparation of small nanosize zirconia particles. The XRD study of the Ba modified zirconia revealed the presence of barium zirconate and barium carbonate crystallographic phases along with the monoclinic and tetragonal form of zirconia. Growth of small particles over the surface of zirconia was observed in the barium modified sample from FESEM study. The barium modified zirconia particles were used as efficient base catalysts for synthesis of â-nitro alcohol by condensation of aryl aldehydes with nitromethane. The barium modified zirconia material was found to be active for the synthesis yielding a variety of â-nitro alcohol with good yield and purity.


This paper explores the question: Can interventions focusing on healing the gut microbiome of a prediabetic patient prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes? Diabetes is a major health problem that is becoming the biggest epidemic of the 21 st century. Efforts to derail the progression of disrupted blood glucose metabolism are often futile leaving patients frustrated with a lifelong burden of disease management. Recent studies suggest that collectively the gut microbiome acts as an endocrine organ and that injury to this "organ" can lead to dysfunctional glucose regulation. A comprehensive literature review revealed that further studies are needed to explore alternative approaches to restoring normal glucose regulation. This proposed quantitative, experimental study aims to explore the effectiveness of a weekly program focusing on the establishment of a healthy gut microbiome to prevent the development of diabetes. The proposed sample will be 100 prediabetic adult patients (ages 25-65) who will be randomly divided into two groups: a treatment (Group A) and a control (Group B). All participants will provide a baseline fasting blood glucose, A1C and a fecal sample before the start of the study. Group A will attend an intensive educational program that consists of hour-long weekly meetings for 12 weeks. Group A will attend weekly discussions of evidence-based research on ways to promote a healthy gut microbiome. Activities that harm the gut thus promoting the growth of pathogenic bacteria will also be discussed and discouraged. Group B, the control group, will receive usual care which may or may not include recommendations from a physician about exercise, diet and weight loss. At the end of the study, we will compare the two groups' fasting blood glucose, A1C, and fecal microbiome composition.


The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision under the auspices of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published a consultation paper in late 2003 on the compliance function in banks. The aim of the consultation paper is to set out the views of banking supervisors and provide basic guidance for banks. Whereas there is no attempt to prescribe a uniform approach, a clear set of general principles is laid down for the role of the compliance function within banking organisations. Furthermore, recognition is given to the fact that diversity exists between banks with respect to their internal organisation of the compliance function and also to diversity in the legal and regulatory environment affecting the compliance function across jurisdictions. The core objectives of this paper are to examine the BIS approach to the compliance function and look at how this is likely to evolve. The authors draw on experience from the UK life assurance industry where substantial inroads have been made to embed a compliance competent culture within such types of financial institutions. A partnership approach is highlighted as essential to achieving a viable and meaningful compliance function. Finally, an ethical approach is explored as the possible future direction for banks. The first section reviews the new principles for the compliance function; the second section describes issues that arise; the third section analyses a partnership approach and explores an ethical approach; and the final section provides a summary and conclusion.


The role of public libraries in providing such goals is troublesome to contradict. Users are the most element of any library. The identification and fulfill of their needs and satisfaction are objectives any library. This paper mainly focuses on the services provided by Thiruvallur District Central Library and satisfaction level of those services from user's perspective. It's conjointly facilitated the way to perform duties and serving the most effective doable way to satisfy their valuable users attaining their satisfaction level and by decreasing the world organization satisfactory parts of library. The study so simple a descriptive Survey and applied sampling technique over three hundred users of the library. The form used as a tool to gather data and 250 questionnaires were received from respondents out of 300 questionnaires distributed. It had been discovered by the study that the library is taking part in the main role at some extent. However several areas must be revised to fulfill the expectation and intellectual wants of society.


The recent particle-tracking velocimetric (PTV) observations revealed that well-entangled polymer solutions and melts tend to either exhibit wall slip or assume an inhomogeneous state of deformation and flow during nonlinear rheological measurements in simple-shear rheometric setups. Many material parameters and external conditions have been explored since 2006, and a new phenomenological picture has emerged. In this Perspective, we not only point out the challenges to perform reliable rheometric measurements but also discuss the relation between wall slip and internal (bulk) cohesive breakdown and summarize all available findings in terms of a phase diagram. This map specifies the conditions under which shear homogeneity, interfacial slip, and bulk shear inhomogeneity would prevail. The paper is closed by enumerating a number of unresolved questions for future studies.


LightWave v9 Lighting is the only book on the market from a professional artist explaining the theory and application of lighting with LightWave 3D. The book has the following key features: Describes step-by-step everything you need to know about the qualities of light; Clearly explains modern lighting concepts; Steps through LightWave's impressive toolset, describing the qualities and uses of each tool and feature; Addresses lighting design issues, dealing with everything from the motivation of a light source to the emotional impact of color on the scene; Companion CD is packed with images and plugins, and includes a demo version of LightWave 3D version 9; Includes a 16 page color insert of lighting examples.


Since the formation of the state in 1948, Israel has strongly encouraged Jewish immigration. Alongside the Hebrew language, immigrants are encouraged to develop the cultural literacy that will enable them to participate in wider Israeli cultural life. During the past two decades, however, the previously mainstream Zionist narrative of assimilation into a unitary Israeli culture has been challenged on two fronts; first, by a rise of ethnic identification and open cultural pluralism in Israeli society, and second, by the immigration of groups (including those from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia) who challenge previous conceptions of ethnic and national affiliation.

Jerusalem, historically and currently a strongly multi-ethnic city, is a popular destination for immigrants. Like in many cities worldwide, immigrant groups build musical networks, creating a sense of place within the fabric of the city. Nevertheless, those seeking to explore and express a sense of place in today's Jerusalem must do so against the backdrop of conflict, and in the light of the wider cultural baggage – both from within and outside Israeli society – concerning the multiple symbolic and realpolitik meanings of Jerusalem.

Part of a wider project investigating the roles played by music in the negotiation of individual and collective identities among recent immigrants in contemporary Israel, this paper considers three immigrant communities in Jerusalem, exploring how the images of place expressed in their music interact with the historical and contemporary, imagined and real, secular and sacred, conflicted and fragmentary images of Jerusalem that form a constant backdrop to their music. Here, music frequently challenges older Zionist narratives, instead offering an alternative approach to issues of immigration and the complex processes of cultural identity formation.


We present a three-stage system for information exploration and retrieval. Given a collection of texts, the first stage extracts a set of index terms describing each text. The second stage, named GALOIS, exploits the indices determined in the earlier stage to build a particular lattice of clustered texts. The resulting structure supports the third stage, a visual retrieval interface named ULYSSES. ULYSSES provides multiple and integrated retrieval strategies; the user may browse or query the clustered search space, or, in addition, he may restrict it by specifying constraints that the desired texts have to satisfy. The system, as a whole, has two main advantages. The first is that it is fully automatic and works in unrestricted environments. The second is that it combines browsing capabilities with good retrieval performance. In fact, the experiments conducted so far suggest that it can be seen as an alternative to more conventional systems even for retrieval tasks such as subject searching and for databases of reasonable size.


Tracked vehicles capable of locomotion in the deep sea are used for manganese nodule mining. This requires specific technical solutions in various respects. Locomotion in the soft sea bed is one of them. For the Crawler to safely maneuver, an automatic drive mode with slip control of the driving tracks is essential. Based on experimental studies at IKS, University of Siegen, slip control for the NIOT-IKS mining machine has been developed and implemented. The experimental setup for the development of the slip control along with the logic of the automatic driving mode is described. The system is critically discussed and the test results and future work are briefly outlined. Note to Practitioners-The work is carried out as part of the polymetallic nodule mining program of the Government of India. The technique of slip control is a specific requirement for a tracked vehicle used in the deep sea. Slip is common in many vehicles-tracked and otherwise. Examples are steam engines in the early days and ordinary cars while negotiating slush or snow/ice and dozers working in soft soil. While these are manually controlled by drivers who have firsthand knowledge of the environmental conditions, in the case of a mining machine in deep sea, it has to be completely automatic and, hence, is challenging. The knowledge generated in this work could be effectively used by practitioners in other related areas of automobile engineering for updating their expertise. Also, similar techniques may be used for maneuvering vehicles sent to other planets


Safety is a major factor in the permitting process for airborne wind energy systems. To successfully commercialize the technologies, safety and reliability have to be ensured by the design methodology and have to meet accepted standards. Current prototypes operate with special temporary permits, usually issued by local aviation authorities and based on ad-hoc assessments of safety. Neither at national nor at international level there is yet a common view on regulation. In this chapter, we investigate the role of airborne wind energy systems in the airspace and possible aviation-related risks. Within this scope, current operation permit details for several prototypes are presented. Even though these prototypes operate with local permits, the commercial end-products are expected to fully comply with international airspace regulations. We share the insights obtained by Ampyx Power as one of the early movers in this area. Current and expected international airspace regulations are reviewed that can be used to find a starting point to evidence the safety of airborne wind energy systems. In our view, certification is not an unnecessary burden but provides both a prudent and a necessary approach to large-scale commercial deployment near populated areas.


Abstract This article's approach is indebted to the method of discourse analysis from a cultural studies' perspective. It attempts to position and analyze literary texts by four authors from Okinawa – Medoruma Shun (*1960), Matayoshi Eiki (*1949), Akahoshi Toshizo (*1974) and Tefu Tefu P. (*1976) – in the context of the Okinawa boom which has flooded Japanese popular culture and mass media since the 1990s. It will be shown that these writers clearly position themselves against the Okinawa boom. On the one hand, the texts selected for analysis in this paper construct Okinawa as a 'different Japan' – just like the images created by Japanese mass media and popular literature on the main islands. On the other hand, though, the authors subvert the mainstream discourse on 'Okinawan difference': Medoruma addresses inconvenient topics which otherwise remain excluded from popular images of Okinawa and, at the same time, highlights Okinawas inner diversity, thus destabilizing the idea of'one Okinawan identity'. Matayoshi stays ambivalent in creating Okinawa as a space which is culturally different from Japan: His text abounds with markers for Okina- wan-ness, but at the same time his main character keeps an ironic distance to 'Okinawan traditions'. Akahoshi and Tefu Tefu eventually pick up prevalent topoi from mainstream discourse and turn them into their opposites.


JOBLESS RECESSIONS? by PATRICK JOSEPH FITZMAURICE JR. (Under the Direction of Ian Schmutte) ABSTRACT Recently literature suggests that the trend phenomenon of job polarization and the cyclical phenomenon of jobless recoveries are interrelated. Building upon this discovery, here we ask whether states' differentially concentrated in routine occupations experience more severe employment drops and less robust employment recoveries in recent recessions. More particularly, we combine occupational task data from the O*NET task database with MSA level employment concentration data to craft a quantifiable measure of routine employment concentration. We proceed run regressions between different metrics for recessionary employment outcomes and this generated measure using a variety of methods. The empirical results proved inconclusive as to the direct mechanism of interest yet suggest task-based economic structure can explain some of the variation in regional employment outcomes.


The existence and characteristics of self-sustained oscillations were studied in the Large Space Telescope (LST) system due to the presence of nonlinear gimbal friction in the control moment gyroscopes (CMG's). A continuous data single-axis model of the LST is considered. A solid friction model is used to represent CMG gimbal friction. A rigorous mathematical model is derived for use in a continuous describing function analysis. Conditions for self-sustained oscillations are then determined.


A series of CeO2-modified C3N4 (C3N4/CeO2X%) heterostructure photocatalysts was synthesized via a hydrothermal method. Their band structure was studied via theoretical calculation and experimental characterization. The behavior of charge carriers was investigated via absorption spectra, PL, and time-resolved PL decay curves. It was found that the modification of CeO2 on C3N4 matched the energy band, enhanced absorption in the visible region, separated photogenerated electrons and holes. Owing to the modification of CeO2 on C3N4, the photocatalytic performance was significantly improved as compared to that of C3N4. This study may offer a new strategy to fabricate and design a band structure of a new photocatalyst with high photocatalytic performance.


This short Comment describes the most important changes to the Exon-Florio CFIUS framework introduced by the National Security Act of 2007 and evaluates the extent to which the updated legislation strikes a reasonable balance between national security concerns and promoting the inflow of foreign capital in the United States. The Comment provides a brief overview of the history of the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) and discusses the key criticisms that have been levied against the CFIUS review process. The recent amendments to the CFIUS framework are analyzed in light of several emerging realities in the markets for investment and regulation, including the increased visibility of sovereign wealth funds and the greater interplay between the regulatory frameworks of developed countries seeking to attract foreign investment.


As one of the projects of the Soviet cultural revolution, the Gypsy project was notable for its unusual success in creating a new literary language and active book publishing. Among its achievements are both original fiction, textbooks and manuals in various fields of knowledge and technics. For instance, the elementary school was almost fully provided with necessary books in Romani. It is noteworthy that Roma women played an active role in the creation of new literature and proved to be not only translators, but also authors of original works in several genres. As the most hardworking author, N. Pankovo, who was distinguished by incredible productivity, should be noted. This project was regularly supported by the state, which allowed the distribution of books at reasonable prices. This project was stopped in 1938, which overwhelmed the narrow group of writers and activists, though it did not lead to fatal personal repressions against them.